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Friday, November 11, 2005

Gilroy - A recent crackdown on charity poker events by the Department of Justice has led to the possible cancellation of at least one of the city’s fundraising activities and may prevent thousands of dollars from ever reaching local charities. The real losers in the possible cancellation of charity poker tournaments are the children, the poor and the seniors who benefit from the events, organizers said.

Last month, the Almaden Business Association was forced to cancel its charity poker tournament benefiting the Almaden Library, in south San Jose.

Now, the status of Super Showdown - the fourth of the Gilroy Community Services Department’s recreation poker series that benefits youth and senior programs - is up in the air as staff revisit legislation to see how to proceed.

“Every hour was donated - including mine - every product was donated, every pizza and sandwich were donated so that every dollar in entry fees went to the three programs,” said event organizer and Adult Sports Coordinator Bob Burch. So far, “several thousand dollars” has been raised in the three tournaments."

Kommersant: President Raises A Glass to Philanthropy: "President Raises A Glass to Philanthropy
On November 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a reception in honor of the new holiday, the Day of National Unity. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov observed that the Kremlin fete united quite unexpected people.
A lot of effort went into the Kremlin reception. The guests were lovingly handpicked. The administration was represented not by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, but by three ministers simultaneously: Minister of Health and Social Development Mikhail Zurabov, Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov and Minister of Education and Science Andrey Fursenko. They were there because it had been decided from the very start that the holiday would be one of peace, friendship and state social policy, and a holiday of the state's unity with the people. There is some likelihood that the people of this country will take that holiday close to heart (like any other day off) and will celebrate it with all their hearts, only to wake up the next day to find out, with some perplexity, that the people and the state are now in unity. The higher purpose of the holiday would thus be realized."

Being on the board of a nonprofit group could be detrimental to your image.

Many people go on the board of nonprofits and think they are doing something good but something that will not test them, said Marcus S. Owens, a former director of the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organization Division.

Board members are responsible for watching the assets of the nonprofit and making sure they are used properly, he said. If you do not watch these things, there is the possibility of damaging one's reputation."

DenverPost.com - LOCAL NEWS: "Donation of land, Learjet dissected
Stated values of gifts questioned Experts say the only real problem may be the jet, valued at $830,000 and cut to $100,000 when sold.
By David Migoya
Denver Post Staff Writer

Lawmakers are questioning three deals involving the donation of assets to the University of Colorado Foundation, but experts say only one of the transactions may be problematic.

Singled out for scrutiny in a state audit of the foundation's spending were values assigned to three assets given to the foundation: an aging Learjet and two pieces of real estate."

KRT Wire | 11/10/2005 | Millions of Americans donate anonymously: "nonymous donors such as Budd, 47, who expect nothing in return are the most blessed of givers, according to most of the world's religions, and a year of natural disasters has brought out millions of them. Indeed, by theology's highest standard for giving, in which neither donor nor recipient knows the other, every Red Cross contributor, every Salvation Army pot-feeder, every blood donor is among this elite.

Among big donors, on the other hand, anonymity is rare. A survey of professional fund-raisers by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy found that only about 1 percent of gifts of $1 million or more were anonymous. That included many donors who balked at publicity but whose names were known to fundraisers or others at the institutions they helped."

A thankful giving: "Corporate giving in Maryland comes in many forms. When Dirci Marquart, a Brazilian, and her sons, Paulo and Junior Seidl, established a company in Frederick a few years ago, they also established MissionServ, a U.S.-based nonprofit that works mostly in Brazil with its counterpart there, Volunteer Brazil."

HAMPTON ROADS Opinion (Printable Version): "The school construction backlog in Chesapeake is so great that any effort to close the gap — like a charitable foundation launched this week — is a step in the right direction.

But unless the Chesapeake Public Schools Foundation has located a public -spirited sugar daddy, it is unlikely to make any noticeable dent in the $340 million inventory of construction and maintenance needs."

Jewish philanthropies didn’t raise much more money last year than they did the previous year, but the American Jewish community remains numerically overrepresented among America’s top charities, as a recent ranking of philanthropies demonstrates.

Of the 400 top charities included in The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual “Philanthropy 400” list, a who’s-who of American not-for-profits released recently, some 26 were Jewish."

Fueled by donor demand, the widespread availability of Form 990s and other financial information has given nonprofits a powerful fundraising tool, says Paula Maehara, president and CEO of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The more information donors and constituents have, 'the more connected they are and the more willing they are to give money,' she says. 'It creates an environment that is very ripe and very positive for an individual to be asked for a gift.'"

New Englanders participate more frequently in charitable giving than donors in other regions in the country and give to nonreligious causes at higher rates, according to a new national study released Wednesday.

'A Closer Look At New England Giving,' a study commissioned from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and co-funded by organizations in the six New England states, including Associated Grant Makers in Massachusetts, revealed that 82 percent of New England households gave to a charitable cause in 2002, compared to 67 percent of households nationally in the same year."

VANCOUVER, BC--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 9, 2005) - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted in cooperation with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Vancouver chapter), shows that the BC adult population (18 ) holds the province's charitable organizations in high regard. The survey conducted to acknowledge National Philanthropy Day (November 9th) also reveals a BC population that is engaged in many philanthropic activities.

Vast Majority of British Columbians (95%) Believe the Province's Charitable Organizations are Trustworthy
Based on perceptions of what they've read, seen, or heard, a full 95% of British Columbians consider the province's charitable organizations to be trustworthy. Importantly, 41% feel these organizations are 'very trustworthy'. Another 54% view charitable organizations in BC as 'somewhat trustworthy'. Very few British Columbians - just 4% - suspects that charitable organizations within the province are not trustworthy.
This overall trend is consistent across all regional and socio-demographic groups, with no statistically significant variation between groups."

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Americans' charitable donations to victims of last month's earthquake in Pakistan are a tiny fraction of the $1.5 billion they gave after December's Asian tsunami but charity officials say it is more a matter of timing than a lack of compassion.

So far, donations to earthquake victims total $43 million, according to figures compiled by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University."

The Hands On Network Corporate Service Council seeks to extend and enhance volunteer and civic action through corporate participation. Many companies support and promote employee volunteering because of its perceived benefits to communities, employees, and companies themselves.

But what is the impact, and how can it be measured? The Case Foundation and Hands On Network asked LBG Associates to take a look at the trends and talk with executives from some of the companies that are leading the way. Click here for highlights (4.76MB booklet) or here for the complete white paper (400KB). "

snip snip>The Combined Federal Campaign has been around since 1961 and it has usually avoided political controversy. That, no doubt, is difficult since some the organizations included in the campaign are not thought of as traditional charities by many federal employees. Some of these charities are involved in controversial issues.

Nevertheless, the CFC keeps rolling along and seems to be more successful each year."

The Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit is 'presented to the project or team responsible for applying free software, or the ideas of the free software movement, in a project that intentionally and significantly benefits society in other aspects of life,' reads the announcement."

A touch of greatness marked the lives of Waldemar Nielsen and Alan Pifer, two of philanthropy's legendary figures, who both died last week after suffering long illnesses.

Though they differed in personality, style, and approaches, both men shared the same passion for strengthening the performance and accountability of grant makers. They cared deeply for the vast number of poor and disadvantaged people, both in this country and overseas, especially in Africa. Together they left a legacy of searing intellect and integrity for colleagues who would follow them as leaders in philanthropy."

GAINESVILLE - The North Georgia Community Foundation is being recognized for having organizational and financial practices that are in accordance with the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.

The Council on Foundations and leaders of the community foundation field created the National Standards in 2000 to aid community foundations in establishing legal, ethical and effective operational practices that would show the foundations' transparency and financial responsibility in light of the increased public scrutiny of foundation practices.
"

[A nonprofit group yesterday harshly criticized the Boston Foundation and a Boston College center for attacking its past studies on charitable donations and undermining a fellow charity's efforts to promote giving.The Boston Foundation plans to release today a commissioned study by the BC Center on Wealth and Philanthropy that says Massachusetts residents aren?t nearly as stingy as portrayed in past studies by the Boston-based Catalogue for Philanthropy.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy, in its annual "Generosity Index", routinely ranks Massachusetts at the bottom of national donation lists, based on average gross income of residents compared to their charitable tax write-offs. "

BOSTON -- A new study on charitable giving trumpets Massachusetts as one of the most generous states in the nation, a far cry from the Bay State's historically low ranking in a separate, widely quoted annual report.

The Boston Foundation study ranks Massachusetts 11th in the nation in charitable giving after taking into account the region's high cost of living and correcting for what it says are biases in the so-called Generosity Index against high-income states.

The Generosity Index was created by The Catalogue for Philanthropy, which bases its rankings on the average adjusted income of residents and the value of itemized charitable donations reported on their federal tax returns.

Although critics accuse the generosity index of shaming states into giving more, officials at The Catalogue for Philanthropy say the survey is a way of comparison. The Boston-based nonprofit group created the index eight years ago."

It's that time of year again. The United Way campaign. The around-the-corner holidays when the office spends a day volunteering at the nearby food bank. The good-feeling pre-Jan. 1 announcement of how much the company gave to charity this year.

All of this corporate giving has a big effect on workers. It changes morale, for the better and, in some cases, worse. It can create a culture employees are proud of. And some people even say a company's good works are a reason to stay with a job and an organization."

I love my large church, even though, with more than 7,000 members, I often have to worship from an overflow room. But there is one bothersome downside of attending a megachurch. You're often put in the position of defending your pastor's personal finances."

UNIVERSITI Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) in collaboration with The Resource Alliance and support of Yayasan Nanyang Press conducted a 20-day course on fundraising and communication recently.

The course was conducted at UTAR’s Centre for Extension Education from Sept 17 to Oct 8.

The main objective of the course is to provide participants a platform to mobilise a diverse range of financial and non-financial resources to manage their non-governmental organisations.

The course was conducted for the first time in Malaysia and South-East Asia.

UTAR’s Faculty of Accountancy and Management and course co-ordinator, assistant prof Jeffrey F.K. Phang said the programme was a good initiative as fundraising activities played an important role in the sustainability of NGOs. "

Whether it's a little or a lot of money, there are many ways to give. One of the most common ways is a direct gift to a charity or nonprofit, but such gifts are just the beginning.

Those who can afford to make a large donation can set up a donor-advised fund. A donor-advised fund works like a bank account, except you only make donations; 'withdrawals' go to the charities. Any contributions to the fund are tax-deductible. Once you set up the fund, where you give is up to you."

Celebrities For Charity: "t is considered trendy to invite celebrities to charity events and many celebrities support these charities.

Though some criticize that celebrities attend charity events for publicity, there is no denying that they are voices of influence and their good deeds can raise awareness for different causes. Our reporter Zhou Jing gives us more on this story.

Singaporean diva Stefanie Sun has just opened an online auction on Ebay. The singer’s many collections will be up for bid at this auction and the money raised will all be donated to China’s Children and Teenagers’ Fund. Stefanie Sun is not the only charitable star, now more and more celebrities are actively involved in different charity events. Helping charities has become a trend among stars. "

To check a charity's tax-exempt status, visit the Internal Revenue Service online at http://www.irs.gov or call 800-829-1040.

GuideStar provides basics on more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations at http://www.guidestar.org/ , and Charity Navigator at http://www.charitynavigator.org/ provides independent evaluations and ratings of charities.

Goodwill Industries International's Web site at http://www.goodwill.org/ offers information on making donations and local Goodwill stores. To donate a vehicle, visit http://www.goodwill.org .

For information on Melwood's mission and car-donation program, visit http://www.melwood.com/ or call 877-MELWOOD.

For information on professional fundraising, visit the Association of Fundraising Professionals at http://www.afpnet.org/ .

Dave Wenhold, like most lobbyists, is well dressed. Making a good appearance is an important part of his job.

But unlike many of his colleagues, Wenhold's thoughts about wardrobe don't end with his personal grooming. The 37-year-old former Senate staffer is an advocate with a heart who has devoted thousands of pro bono hours to collecting 'gently used' business suits -- men's and women's -- from other lobbyists for people who can't afford their own."

La. Gov. Opens Special Session on Storms - Yahoo! News: "BATON ROUGE, La. - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita decimated city neighborhoods, parishes and livelihoods across Louisiana, and the cost was still rising Sunday as the Legislature opened a special session to deal with the crisis."